If Narendra Modi suppressed facts, file poll petition: Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has rejected a public interest litigation which challenged BJP's prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's nomination papers from Maninagar constituency in Ahmedabad on the grounds that he suppressed crucial facts such as his wife's name, assets and liabilities in an election affidavit.

Rejecting the plea, Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam said: "The returning officer accepts it after verifying the affidavit. What is the role of the High Court and the Supreme Court? File an election petition."

The petitioner, a Kolkata-based businessman Sunil Saraogi, had alleged that the affidavit filed by Modi failed to mention that he had a wife, Jasodaben Modi. "A separation has to follow a legal procedure....He has to disclose (his marital) status to ensure probity and transparency in public life," the petition said.

Seeking action against Narendra Modi under the Indian Penal Code and various sections of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the petitioner had said that as per the rules all contesting candidates needed to disclose all material facts about themselves such as their education qualifications, assets and liabilities, and criminal record. Hence, the decision of the returning officer to accept the affidavit was illegal, the petitioner claimed.

The petition claimed that Jasodaben was born on June 15, 1951, and she got married to Modi in 1968.

"It is a false affidavit," senior advocate Colin Gonsalves said while arguing the case. "The returning officer should have rejected his nomination papers. There were doubts regarding the content of the affidavit," he said.

The petitioner had made the central government, the Election Commission, Modi and the returning officer party to the petition.